


Danganronpa V3 Shameful Sonata: a what-if rewrite of the final chapter in the Danganronpa franchise

by StrongestBoss



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: AU, And there’s a lot of hot people in it which I know is half the reason you all play Danganronpa, Fuck the Monokubs. Just... just fuck the Monokubs., Gen, I’m totally stealing ideas from Your Turn to Die btw, Oh wow it’s a Kaede rewrite of V3 I’m so original guys, Rewrite, You should play that it’s really good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27127204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrongestBoss/pseuds/StrongestBoss
Summary: I was on a roleplay discord and they started talking about AU fanfics where Kaede/Kaito/Kokichi/Tsumugi survive and how Kiyo never got to live and how poopy that was so I went “...Yeah I can make an AU better than that.” And now I’m trying to do that.Basically the idea behind this is that Shuichi’s plan actually manages to let them find the mastermind, meaning Kaede doesn’t die immediately and now has to live with the fact that HER plan ended up kickstarting the killing game. I’m sure it’s been done before, but fuck it, I like writing, so I wanna write.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. My Class Trial, No Class Trial

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know if I have to clarify this on here (I’m pretty sure I don’t) but uh... I don’t own shit. Please don’t yell at me Kodaka.
> 
> Oh also. I realized as I was working on something else that I should probably preface this. Some of the dialogue here is lifted directly from the game. I do not intend to claim this dialogue as my own. That would be plagiarism. I just figured it would be cool to reference the actual dialogue in my AU. Apologies if it gave off a bad idea.

It’s been three days since we’ve found ourselves in this place.

At face value, that doesn’t sound like a whole lot. People have spent years in hellish places before, and if someone like them saw me complaining about how I’ve had to go a whole _three_ _days_ in this place, they’d probably give me an earful.

...Or at least, the person here who’s actually  _ been _ to prison has. He keeps saying I “still have a ways to go”. I won’t lie, it kind of hurts my feelings…

*ahem* A-Anyway. Where was I going with this? Um… Ah! Right! That doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but for a bunch of normal teenagers like me, it’s a lot to handle. Especially given the whole “killing game” part of it all.

...Well, I say “normal”. But really, we’re not…  _ normal _ normal. Like I said earlier, one of us, Ryoma, has gone to prison. He killed off an entire mafia with nothing but his tennis skills. Then there’s Gonta, the big, loveable teddy bear who grew up in a forest with wolves and really, REALLY likes bugs. And THEN there’s Angie, who keeps trying to take my blood in exchange for her artwork.

Ah… but you already know about all this, don’t you? You know all the people locked in here with me already. You probably even already know who’s talking to you. There’s only really a few people it could be, after all.

And… by proxy, you... probably know I don’t make it to the end of this story.

If it wasn’t clear by now, I’m Kaede Akamatsu. I’m the Ultimate Pianist, and... I’m the protagonist of this crazy story. I’m sure you already know all the details, but to sum up, me and 15 other high schoolers, each one with one, borderline god-like talent, have been kidnapped, and locked inside of this dome-like structure. There are only two ways out: there’s the Death Road to Despair, which… as far as we can all tell, is impossible to beat. And there’s the way that Monokuma, the self-proclaimed headmaster of the school grounds we’ve been taken to, is encouraging us to do:

We kill one of our friends, and manage to get away with it.

I… don’t like that idea. Not at all. I hate it, with every fiber of my being. And the worst part is, by the looks of things, one of us HAS to do it by the end of today, or we’ll all be slaughtered by Monokumas.

But I refuse to give up hope! No matter what, all of us are going to get out of here, and be great friends! I’m sure of it! Shuichi’s come up with a plan to catch the person behind all this red-handed, and if it works, then we can finally end this stupid killing game! All I need to do is make sure we catch them. Easy!

...O-Okay, that’s a lie. It‘s not easy. At all. There’s every possibility that this won’t work, there’s a good chance that if it doesn’t work it’ll be my fault, if it doesn’t work there’s a good chance we’ll all die, and there’s this panic-inducing music playing in the background as the cherry on top of this explosive-and-knife-filled cake. The anxiety is killing me. I need to  _ move _ .

“Shuichi… please come back already…”

I continued to distract myself with sweeping until Shuichi finally came back.

“...Kaede? Why are you sweeping…?” Shuichi asks, having just got back.

“Huh? O-Oh, no reason… Anyway, what about the people down in the basement?”

“Everything is okay. They all went to the Game Room.”

The Game Room? Why there?

Suddenly, the monitor playing that awful music made a chime. Monokuma appeared on the screen, along with the words “in 1 hour…  **everyone dies.** ” written over and over.

“Ding dong, dong ding!” the bear said in his trademark annoyingly-cartoonish voice.

“...There’s only one hour until the time limit,” Shuichi comments.

“Yeah, it’s almost time…” I say, clutching my arm in fear.

“I’m sure that the mastermind will make their move soon. If Monokuma is going to show up when time runs out, the mastermind will go to the library—“

Shuichi is cut off by a loud, blaring sound coming from the receiver in his hand.

“Sh-Shuichi, the receiver!”

“Someone moved the bookcase! Hurry, Kaede!”

Shuichi sprinted out of the classroom with the determination of a true Ultimate Detective.

“W-Wait for me!”

I dropped everything I was holding and ran after Shuichi. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster. I was so nervous, my head felt like it was pounding with every heartbeat. Eventually, we had reached the door to the library.

“...Kaede, let’s go inside.”

“Yeah!”

Bracing myself to confront the mastermind, I had balled my hands into fists without realizing it. It’ll be fine. Everything will work out. I was still convincing myself when I caught up with Shuichi, who had his hand on the door—

“Huh? What are you guys doing here?” Suddenly, from around the corner, Kaito was questioning us.

And I ignored him.

Now wasn’t the time to hesitate. Whatever Kaito wants to ask can wait. I rush to the door and push Shuichi out of the way.

“K-Kaede! Wait!” he pleas, but it’s too late. I was already pushing the door open.

“What’s going on? What are you two up to? The time limit’s almost up! We gotta be ready to fight!” Kaito exclaims from behind me, but I pay him no mind. At this point, I’m rushing headlong into the library.

Good thing, too, because if I wasn’t, I would never have seen Tsumugi Shirogane, holding a shot put ball and a Monopad.

“Stop right there!” I shout, still running. Tsumugi turns back to look to me, and immediately hastens her efforts to open the door. 

“Is that Tsumugi? What’s she doing here?” Kaito asks, now in the library.

“That’s her! She’s the mastermind! She’s gotta be!” Shuichi exclaims, running after me.

Tsumugi was fumbling with her Monopad, trying to open the door, but she was too slow. I was already right on top of her. I tackle her full force, knocking her to the floor. At this point, Kaito, Shuichi and Tenko—Tenko was with Kaito, by the way—we’re right behind me.

“Wha!? There was a secret door in the library!?” Tenko shouts in sheer, unbridled shock.

“Yes,” I reply, “and only the mastermind knew about it. Or at least, only they were supposed to know. Shuichi stumbled onto it, and came up with a plan to catch them.”

Tsumugi was writhing under me. “Let me go, you psycho! What’s gotten into you!?”

“Don’t play dumb! We know you’re the mastermind!” Shuichi says. “The proof is as clear as day!”

Kaito, confused, asks “H-Hey, what’s goin’ on? What’s this about a “mastermind”?”

At this point, Tsumugi manages to push me off. I try to get back on top of her, but…

“Monokubs!” 

Tsumugi shouted out in blatantly faux fear, and before I knew it, an Exisal was lifting me by the waist, eight feet off the ground. “Nun-uh! You ain’t goin’ nowhere!” Everybody in the room is thrown into a state of panic, not least of all me.

“Y-You! You drop her right now!” Kaito rushes over to help me, and stops dead in his tracks. At first, I think it’s because the Exisal’s turned towards him, but…

_ Bing bong, bong bing! _

The monitors have stopped playing that skull-splitting song. But if I knew what would end up replacing it, I would’ve happily listened to it for the rest of my life.

“A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the library!”

“A… b-body?” I can feel myself going pale. Suddenly, the Exisal feels like a minor inconvenience. “H-Hey! Wh-What’s happening here!?”

Tsumugi pushes herself to her feet. “Isn’t it obvious? Monokid. Show her.”

“Yes, ma’am!” The Exisal turns away from Tsumugi, facing me towards where the other three were looking.

Rantaro Amami, who had yet to reveal his talent to the rest of us…

...lay dead on the ground.

Tsumugi was now standing to my left side. “Is something wrong, Kaede? You can’t be too surprised, right? After all, this was what you had planned, wasn’t it? Of course, you expected it to be the mastermind, but one way or another, you were sure there’d be a body right around here.”

I could hear somebody take a step forward, followed shortly thereafter by the voice of Tenko. “H-Hey… Kaede… w-what is she talking about? Sh-She said you were expecting someone to die? W-What does that mean…?”

“W...Wha…? This wasn’t… supposed to…” I sat there, suspended in the air, completely dumbstruck. This… this wasn’t my plan… the mastermind was supposed to die here, not Rantaro… so why? Why was he...

“Don’t feel too bad, Bakamatsu. I mean, it’s plain to see that I’m the culprit behind this case, not you. But what a twist, right? The basic, blue-haired beauty ended up being the mastermind of the whole killing game!”

I can hear the footsteps of people entering the room, along with the panicked voice of Gonta, along with the… inappropriately calm voices of Maki, Angie and Himiko.

“Wh-What happening!? Gonta hear scream! W...Why Exisal holding Kaede!?! And why there so much blood!?”

“Nyeeeeeeh?”

“Huhhhhhh? Kaede? Are you playing with the Exisals? I wanna go next! Me next, me next!”

“...Rantaro is dead.”

“Whaaaaat? That is a shame. However, I want to play with the Exisal.”

“How can you be so calm!?”

I’m shaking at this point. Violently. “Th...Th-The killing game is over, then, right? W-We won, right? We found the mastermind! We can stop you now! Without the mastermind, the game can’t continue!”

Tsumugi tilted her head. “What makes you say that?”

“W...What?”

“What makes you think the game can’t continue without the mastermind? All I need to do is make one Monokuma, and the game can run without me easily. Even if I were to die, and there was no Monokumas ready at the moment, I have a contingency plan for the Monokubs so that they can make new ones in my absence.”

“She suuuuure does! Lemme tell ya, that voice tape was  _ sexy _ ! I’ve spent some loooooooong nights listenin’ to that bad boy!”

“Shut it, Monokid.” She bangs on the leg of the Exisal with her fist.

“Hey, hey, hey!!! Don’t hit my ride!!! I spent weeks on the paint job!!!”

Tsumugi groaned. “God, why couldn’t Monodam have done this instead…”

“Sorry, Monodam has his schedule filled out. He’s got a bullyin’ appointment in five minutes, hehehe…”

“...Regardless... I think you get the point. Your efforts were plainly in vain.”

Kaito interjected. “Hey! Don’t ignore us! What did you mean about Kaede expectin’ a body!?”

I look back towards them. “I… I-I can explain, I…” I sputter the words out, completely distraught.

Tsumugi was standing in front of Rantaro now. As she speaks, I turn back towards her. “Rantaro is dead now because of your little plan, Kaede. And the best part is, the First Blood Perk means I get to get away with it! It’s a shame there can’t be a class trial for the first murder, but… in a way, I suppose this helps create some distinction. There’s never been a murder that wasn’t met with some sort of trial, after all.”

Kaito shouts out. “Shaddup and drop her, dammit!” He takes a few steps forward, seemingly ready to tackle Tsumugi, but the Exisal turns towards him, making sure I’m still facing Tsumugi.

“Uhuhuh! I wouldn’t try it, Momota-kun~. Right now, I hold all the power. I could have her head popped clean off if I really wanted to. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

I can hear Kaito grumbling—no, growling behind me, but no footsteps. He hasn’t turned back… but he certainly isn’t advancing any further.

“Well, I think I’ve made my point by now. I’ll be off to go make a new Monokuma. Maybe a few spares, just in case. After that, I’ll be gone for the rest of the game!”

“G...Gone…? B...But…”

Tsumugi lightly pushes the Exisal’s arm down with one hand, bringing me down to eye level. “Once again, thank you  _ so _ much, Kaede. Without you and your brilliant plan, this killing game could’ve never gotten started.”

At that line, I’m left emotionally destroyed. Any hope I had prior to this had been torn to shreds, and replaced with cold, painful despair. If I had just listened to Shuichi… if I just didn’t come up with a plan to kill the mastermind… this… all of this… it would’ve never happened. Every ounce of blood spilled in this killing game... is now on  _ my _ hands.

As Tsumugi starts to walk away from me, all I can muster the strength to do now is ask “...Why?”

“...Why?”

Tsumugi turns towards me, and looks at me with cold, lifeless eyes, before giving me a fittingly plain reply.

“Despair. That’s all.”

The Exisal set me down and walked away, keeping an eye on everyone else in the room, as Tsumugi entered the secret door, never to be heard from again.

**Chapter 1: End**

**14 remain.**


	2. What To Do With A Deadly Songbird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The remaining participants discuss what to do with the pianist willing to kill.

Everyone else had just arrived.

“Rantaro!? But… why!?”

“Hrk..! Th-That’s Rantaro? Oh, thank god! I thought that was a pile of dirty rags!”

“I see… So this ended up happening after all. Kehehe… my,my. What a world this is, so full of jokes like this.”

“Wh-What…? This is a lie, right? My dearest Rantaro is dea— Oh, I mean… was kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilled!!!”

“Hmph… How ironic. The guy who wanted to live ended up dead… and the guy who wanted to die survived.”

“So… can somebody explain the meaning of all this?”

As if on cue, a Monokuma appeared out of thin air. “Nah. An explanation isn’t necessary. Thanks to the First Blood Perk, there won’t be a class trial, so that’d just be a waste of time. Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer and the mastermind of this killing game, has won herself a free ticket outta here!”

“I can’t believe it… Not only was Rantaro killed by a girl… but that girl… she’s the reason we’re all here in the first place…” Tenko sadly mused. “She’s no better than a degenerate male!”

“Still, though, a killing game without a mastermind just feels hollow…” Monokuma gloomily stared at the floor. “It’s like there’s a hole in the killing game we can’t patch…”

“Hey, I know!” Monokuma perked up. “Why don’t you be the new mastermind, Kaede? Someone who can put as much thought behind a murder attempt as you would be great for the role!”

“Murder attempt? What’s this about?”

“Ohhhhhh? What’s this? Kaede tried to commit a murder?”

“K-Kaede would never! Kaede too nice to kill friends! Right, Kaede?”

I don’t respond. Not to Monokuma. Not to Gonta. I simply stare at the floor in silence.

“...K...Kaede? You not try to kill friends, right?”

“Um… I think I know what happened,” Shuichi interjected. “You see, Kaede was just—“

“No, no. I think we want to hear it from Kaede.” Korekiyo took a few steps towards me. “Kaede. You are aware of the position you’re in, correct? You’ve just been accused of something of grave severity. If you say nothing now, everyone here will assume you’re a threat. That’s not something you want, is it?”

I stay silent. I’m still overwhelmed with emotions. Tsumugi’s words still echo in my brain. “Without you and your brilliant plan, this killing game could’ve never gotten started.”

“...I see. I suppose our view of you is irrelevant. Shuichi’s theory will have to do.” Korekiyo turned around, and started to walk away.

At this point, I finally snap out of my trance. “W-Wait…” I turn myself to my other classmates, not picking myself up off the ground. Kiyo stops, and turns back towards me. “I-I’m sorry. I was lost in thought. I… I-I’ll explain everything.”

And so I did. I explained Shuichi’s discovery, his plan to catch the mastermind, my plan to kill the mastermind…

Why Rantaro was dead… I looked them all dead in the eye, and explained it as best I could.

Everybody stood in silence, but they didn’t have to say anything. Their faces told me everything I needed to know. Looks of deep thought, looks of confusion, looks of fear, looks of disgust. Everybody was thinking the same thing.

Finally, Korekiyo broke the silence. “Well, Shuichi? Does this match your theory?”

“Yeah… pretty much…” Shuichi faces down at the ground. “I guess she was worried my plan wouldn’t be enough. And so she thought the only way we could end the killing game was… if she could kill the mastermind.”

“I see. Well then, what do you suppose we do with this knowledge?”

“What is there to do?” Kaito asks. “She ain’t done nothin’ wrong. She tried to save her friends, like a real hero!”

“Oh? And do you intend to say that her attempt at murder is justified? Even you must know that to end another person’s life is quite the crime.”

“W...Well, no… but she meant well! She just… had a more extreme solution to the problem than Shuichi did! Drastic times call for drastic measures, right?”

“Ah, but these are not simply “drastic measures”, are they? These are also the means of escape. And the fact that Kaede is willing to go through with these means of escape makes her a threat to our safety, does it not?”

“Of course not!” Shuichi shouts out. “Kaede only did all of this to try and end the killing game!”

“And if it didn’t? If it succeeded, but didn’t end the killing game? Kaede would’ve been able to walk home Scott free, leaving us all to rot here.”

“I would never do that!” I yell, on the brink of tears. “I want us all to get out of here! I want us all to be friends!”

“Gah, shut it Kaediot!” Miu steps forward aggressively. “You think we’re gonna trust what some fuckin’ murder-schemin’ bimbo’s gotta say?”

“N-Now hold on! We cannot be turning our backs on each other!” Keebo says. “Kaede’s plan may have been drastic, but her intentions were clearly not malevolent!”

“That right! Kaede never betray friends!” Gonta claims assertively. “It not right to treat her mean!”

“Really, now? It takes a lot of steele to try and pull something of this caliber. I know that better than anyone.” Ryoma muses. “It’s only natural that in this killing game, we’d worry about somebody willing to kill.”

“Nyeeeeh… Kaede scares me… I’m not comfortable being around somebody who would try to kill someone…” Himiko sheepishly remarked.

It’s clear to me by now that I’ve created a divide in my classmates. On one side, they saw that I was willing to kill to protect the people trapped here. To protect my friends.

On the other, much larger side, they saw that I was willing to kill.

“Upupupupu! It seems some tension’s building between the students now!” Monokuma was still standing where he had been when he asked me to become the mastermind. “I’d love to watch this play out further, but as I’m sure you’re all painfully aware, it’s going on midnight right now, and you’re all probably suuuuuuuuper tired. I sure am, after being dead for two days! So why don’t you all go and get some sleep, huh?”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Kirumi asked, “what will be done with Rantaro’s body?”

“Huh?” Monokuma looks back at Rantaro. “Oh, right. Him. Well, I’ll be having the body disposed of once you’re all in bed. Nobody wants to read in a room with a dead body, after all!”

I dart my attention to Monokuma. “Dispose of the body!? You’re just throwing him away like trash!?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, what use is he now? It’s not like he can help you guys while he’s dead.”

“C-Can’t we at least give him a burial somewhere!? Please, you can’t just get rid of our friend like that!”

But Monokuma was already lifting Rantaro’s body up with his tiny arms. “Why don’t you all just go get some sleep, huh? You’ve all got a big day tomorrow!”

And so he ran off with Rantaro’s body. By the time I was even on my feet to run after him, he was out of the library completely. Of course, that didn’t stop me from running out the door, running up the stairs, looking to see where he went, realizing I wasn’t going to be able to catch him, falling to my knees and sobbing into my hands.

As it turned out, Shuichi and Kaito were running after me. When they saw me at the top of the staircase, they stopped. “Hey, hey! It’s alright, Kaede! Don’t beat yourself up over it!” Kaito said, trying to cheer me up. Of course, it doesn’t do much. I just sit there, on my knees, crying.

“Gah, c’mon! What’s gotten into you!? What happened to all that talk about us all getting out together, huh!? What happened to us all bein’ friends!?!” Kaito angrily took a few steps closer, but Shuichi stops him. He lays a hand on Kaito’s shoulder. “Kaito. Please,” he pleaded. I can hear Kaito behind me, grumbling angrily. But, after a moment, he clicks his tongue and starts to back away.

“Just… please don’t let this eat at you too much. I know damn well you’re a good person, alright? Don’t let those other numbskulls tell you different.” And with that, Kaito walked back downstairs to talk with the others in the library.

Shuichi approached me, and gently rested his hand on my shoulder. “C’mon, Kaede. I’ll… take you to your room. You’re probably tired after all this…”

I pull my hands ever so slightly away from my face, sniveling. “I… I just… wanted everyone to get out okay… I just wanted everyone to be happy… I didn’t want this… I didn’t want any of this…”

“I know, Kaede… I know…”

Shuichi pulls me into a hug, catching me a little off guard, but frankly, I needed it bad. I sobbed into his shoulder for what was probably only about a minute or two, but it felt like it could’ve been a lifetime.

Once the moment’s passed, Shuichi takes me to my room.

“If you need anything, you’re welcome to come ask me,” Shuichi says, standing in the doorway. I just give him a small nod, and he somberly walks away, closing the door.

I collapse onto my bed, exhausted. I want to cry, but I have no more tears left to shed. I fall asleep with the image of Rantaro’s corpse at the forefront of my mind.

I wake up to the sight of Rantaro standing at my bedside.

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. A Healthy Meal After Horrible Tragedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The participants have their first meal since Rantaro’s death, and Kaede totally isn’t losing her mind.
> 
> (This is the chapter where I start stealing ideas from YTTD btw—)

“Morning, sunshine. How’d you sleep?”

I don’t respond. How  _ can _ I respond? I’m in my bed, talking to a dead man. I’m less concerned with the idea of striking up a conversation right now than I am with asking  _ questions _ . Am I dreaming? Am I awake? Am I hallucinating? Is this real? If it is real, how is this possible? Did Rantaro actually survive? Is Tsumugi cosplaying as him just to toy with me? Is it a video? A clone?? A ghost?!? _ What is happening!?! _

“Ouch. Not even gonna say hi? Good to know you think highly of me, Kaede.”

“W-Wait!” I snap back to awareness. “Wh… Why are you here…?”

“To talk to you. Why else?” Rantaro moves from my bedside to the front of my bed, as I watch him intently for  _ any _ evidence this isn’t real. He leans against the wall nonchalantly.

“...Is… Is this real?” I ask shakily.

“Hm? Why wouldn’t it be?”

His face grows dark. He speaks before I can even respond. “Ah, right… I’m dead… aren’t I?”

His words reverberate through the entire room. He takes a few steps closer, and I’m paralyzed with fear. “I warned you, didn’t I?” Rantaro says in a venomous tone. “I told you not to do anything rash. I told you I could end the killing game. And you didn’t listen. You ignored me completely so you could play the hero, and look what happened.”

“I… I-I just wanted to…” I shrink into the blanket as Rantaro edges closer and closer to me.

“You wanted everyone to be friends, right? You wanted everyone to get out alive?” Rantaro is back at my bedside, and I’m left with no more room to try and distance myself. The room grows darker and darker with every word he says. “But that’s not possible now, is it? Because now, not everyone  _ can _ get out alive. Because now, not everyone can  _ be _ friends. All because you had to butt in. All because you just couldn’t listen.”

The room is pitch black now. I can’t even see Rantaro, but I know he’s still here. I can’t hear him, I can’t see him, but I can tell, from the unshakable sense of sheer  _ dread _ I feel, that he’s still standing there at my bedside. A moment of silence passes, before Rantaro leans in just close enough for me to be able to see his face.

His hair is soaked in blood, and his eyes are cold and lifeless.

**“You fucking murderer.”**

I jolt awake in a cold sweat.

I look around the room, hyperventilating, looking for signs that Rantaro was there. It hasn’t registered to me yet that that was a dream.

When I find no evidence of Rantaro’s presence, I sigh in relief. “Just a dream,” I think to myself.

Right. Just a dream. Nothing more.

I clean myself up and step out of my room.

“Ah, Kaede.” Korekiyo is the first to greet me. “You’re up early. Do you need something?”

“Huh?” I look around for a clock. “A-Am I?”

“I would say so. I’ve never seen you awake before the morning announcement before.” Korekiyo pulled out his pocket watch. “In fact, the only other person I usually see up at this time is Kirumi.”

“A-Ah… I-Is that so?”

Korekiyo gives me a curious look. “You seem shaken. Is something wrong?”

“N-No, nothing. I-I’ll just… head back to bed, I guess.”

“Oh? Then you weren’t intending to awake at this time? Were you woken by something?” There’s a surprising amount of concern in Korekiyo’s voice. “A loud noise? Or perhaps a nightmare?”

I wince a little at that nightmare part. “N-No, I… I just had to use the bathroom. That’s all. I-I’m going to go to bed now.”

Korekiyo gives me a look that gives off the idea he doesn’t believe me. However, he opts not to press the subject any further. 

“...Very well. Sleep well, Kaede.” And so he walked out of living quarters.

As curious as I was about where he was going, I  _ was _ still tired, so I went back into my room to try and get some more sleep. Of course, it doesn’t go well. Try as I might, I just can’t get myself back to sleep. I roll around in bed, fidget around with the blanket, I even try getting into my underwear (I had been fully clothed up to this point), but no matter what I did, I just couldn’t get back to sleep. Whenever I got close, that feeling of dread sunk back in, and I’d roll back over and try again. Before I knew it, the morning announcement had come to “officially” mark the morning. And so, there wasn’t much left to do but to get up and head to the cafeteria. As I go to open the door, though, I hear the others talking from behind the door, and stop.

“Do ya think Kaede’s gonna come?”

It was Kaito.

“Hm? Why wouldn’t she?” Keebo replies.

I put my head up against the door, propping myself up with my hand, and listen to their conversation.

“Well, I mean… she seemed pretty upset last night…” Kaito says in a concerned tone. “And she’s definitely the type to give herself a hard time over something like this… she did that after the Death Road to Despair too…”

“Tch. First that shit and now Rantaro,” Miu says, through what I can only assume are through gritted teeth. “This bitch’s a fuckin’ tragedy on legs!”

“Hey, shaddap! She’s just trying to help!” Kaito barks back, eliciting a sharp “Heeeeeeee~!” from the gorgeous girl genius.

“But has she actually  _ helped _ anything, though?” Kokichi pondered. “She put all of our lives in danger with all those escape attempts. And because of her, the mastermind got to walk away Scott free. That’s not very helpful of her, y’know.”

“But she didn’t mean to—!”

Kokichi cuts him off. “You’re welcome to put her on a pedestal, Kaito, but the fact of the matter is she’s caused more problems than anyone else here. No amount of good intentions changes that.”

My shoulders drop. I sit there, my head against the door, feeling absolutely miserable. Have I really been  _ that _ bad? All I wanted was for everyone to get out okay, but…

“Are you going in or not?”

“Huh?” I snap back to attention, and look to the source of the voice. Maki was standing behind me. “O-Oh, I was just uh…”

“You’re blocking the door to the cafeteria. Either go in or go mope somewhere else,” Maki says, sounding irritated.

“Oh, uh… s-sorry…” I stand up and move out of the way for Maki. She enters the cafeteria without a word.

“Hey, Maki!” I can hear Kaito stand up from his chair excitedly. “Have you seen Kaede?”

“She was sitting in front of the door. Probably listening in on you guys talking,” Maki says, deadpan.

“Oh, crap… did she hear all that stuff Kokichi said then…?”

At this, I fumbled into the cafeteria. “Ah! I-I’m here! Sorry!” I nervously chuckle, like nothing ever happened.

“Oh, Kaede! Glad you could make it!” Kaito says that really genuinely. Even if, from what Kokichi said, I know most of them don’t trust me, I give him a soft smile, taking comfort in knowing he’s on my side. I sit beside him.

From there, everybody else starts coming in. A lot of them try to ignore me completely (keyword try…), or give me a disgusted glare, but I try not to let it get to me too much. The only people who don’t seem to react to me that much are Kiyo, who says nothing of note, and Gonta, the second to last to come in.

“You guys! Gonta find weird writing!”

“Writing?”

Shuichi comes in at that point, and I perk up a little bit. “Good morning.”

“Yeah! Like someone try to hide writing in grass! Weird, right!?”

Shuichi takes a seat next to me (thankfully, since from what I’ve seen there weren’t a lot of people that still liked me), as Gonta details the writing he found in the courtyard.

“On concrete, hidden in grass… Words “horse a” written there.”

“Huh…” Shuichi ponders. “What do you think it means?”

“Well… its meaning is entirely shrouded in mystery.”

“Not even the Ultimate Anthropologist knows…” Tsumugi says thoughtfully. “I thought it was some anthropology thing.”

...Huh?

“Well, how about it, Shuichi? Let’s hear the Ultimate Detective’s opinion.”

I look around for the source of Tsumugi’s voice and find nothing. Am I going crazy? It wouldn’t be that surprising, given what happened last night…

Shuichi must’ve noticed my sudden paranoid scanning of the room, as he doesn’t respond to Kaito’s question. “...Kaede? Is something wrong?”

They saw nothing. They heard nothing. It was in my imagination. That’s all it is.

“Huh?” I shake my head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.”

“Shuichi?” Kaito repeated, a bit concerned.

“Oh, uh… I… don’t know? I don’t know either.”

“Gonta, I’m surprised you were able to find that graffiti hidden in the grass,” Angie comments. “Do you channel the divine, too?”

“Oh… that cuz of tiny bugs.” Gonta states.

“Bugs…?” Kirumi says, confused. “I thought vermin were nowhere to be seen in this academy.”

Shockingly, instead of tearing Kirumi’s arms off and using them like drumsticks on her rib cage, Gonta replies “Yeah, Gonta think that before, but… When out walking in courtyard, Gonta think he see tiny bug. But… bug so tiny, even Gonta no could see it. And Gonta have 20/0.625 eyesight.”

How is that even physically possible!?

“So maybe Gonta just make mistake. But Gonta think…” Gonta scratches the back of his head. “No, maybe Gonta just see things…”

“Gah! Just make up your mind already, you degenerate!” Tenko says, frustrated.

“So, you found the message while you were out chasing some bug?” Kokichi remarks. “Wooow, Gonta! You did it! I knew I could rely on you since the moment we met!”

“What? Really?” Gonta says, sounding particularly happy.

“...Yep! So you should work for me!”

“Okay!” Gonta says enthusiastically.

“What? You’re going to agree to it just like that?” Tsumugi says, sweating.

W- Tsumugi again? Why is…?

“Be careful, Gonta. That guy’s a real liar.” Kaito warns.

“What? Really?” Gonta says, like he was just told Santa Claus wasn’t real.

Kokichi laughs dismissively. “Haha, no way.”

“Good. Then Gonta have no reason to worry.”

“Will you believe just anyone!?” Tsumugi sa—

What is happening here!? I’m starting to panic at this point, and I think people can tell. At the very least, Shuichi can tell, and Kiyo seems a little suspicious. It’s clear to me that I can’t handle this discussion right now, so I decide my best course of action is just to leave. I stand up and walk away, making a point to walk a path where I have to go through Tsumugi to get out. She’s vanished by the time she’s in my path. Not real. Just like I thought. The path to the door is completely clear.

Somebody tugs at my shirt before I can pull the door open. “Where do you think YOU’RE going, little missy?”

Monokuma drags me back to my chair. “H-Hey!” I yelp, confused.

“You can’t just walk out on a big meeting like this! What if you miss something important!?” Monokuma huffs. “Honestly. How do you expect to find a decent job with a work ethic like that?”

He puts his paw on his non-existent chin. “Well, I guess you’re a musician, so looking for a  _ decent _ job never really crossed your mind, did it? Ahahahahaha!”

Ryoma looks towards Monokuma, annoyed. “Why are you even here?”

“Ahh… I figured I’d give you guys a prize for getting the killing game off its feet.”

“A prize…?” Shuichi quizzes. 

The Monokubs appear with their traditional unified “Rise and Shine, Ursine!”

“Hey, you bastards! We got yer rewards, see?”

The Monokubs present us with an assortment of items: an ocarina, a red gem, a crank, and a passport. We get no explanation on what to do with them. All we’re told is that there may be a way to use them before the Monokubs and Monokuma disappear.

“Hmmm…” Kokichi thinks aloud. “Seeing that robot-looking one get left out makes me think of Keebo…”

“Am I really excluded!?”

“So… what should we do with this junk?” Maki ponders.

“Why don’t we have Kaede handle it?” Kaito suggests.

“Huh? Why me?” I say, giving him a confused look. Pretty much everybody was confused by Kaito’s suggestion, I think.

“You seem like you’d be good at something like this!”

“I would think Shuichi would be better for something of this nature,” Kirumi points out, hand on her chin.

“Well, then he can come with her!”

“But then what’s the point of—”

Shuichi cuts me off. “That sounds like a great idea!”

“Huh??”

Korekiyo adjusts his cap. “Pardon me, Shuichi, but Kaede is currently on somewhat thin ice. Is it wise to entrust her with something like this?”

“No, this is perfect actually,” Shuichi says with a smile. “This way, somebody can supervise her. So if she does anything sketchy, I can report it back to you all.”

At first I was disheartened by Shuichi’s reasoning, but then I realized what Kaito was trying to accomplish. By putting me on something like this, he’s giving me an opportunity to gain some of the others’ trust back, if even just a little. I bet Shuichi’s figured that out already. That’s why he wants to go with me. So he can tell them all, without a shadow of a doubt, that I can be trusted.

Korekiyo sighs, resigned. “I suppose there’s no harm in it, so long as she’s accompanying you.”

“Great!” Shuichi says with surprising joy. He then sheepishly turns to me, realizing he hasn’t asked me how I felt about this. “Uh… did you want to join me, Kaede?”

I beam back at him. “I would love to.”

Kaito puts one hand on each of our shoulders. “Now kith :3”

“W- B- Y- I-”

“WE’RE GOING TO GO FIND A USE FOR THESE ITEMS NOW, BYE!” Shuichi said, before rushing both of our bright red faces out of the cafeteria.

**End of Chapter 3**


End file.
